[AI] Right to Education
Hi Friends, Can anyone please send me a copy of Right to Education Act, 2009? Since I am not conversant with the legal jargon, so a summary of the Act would also be very helpful. An early reply would highly oblige Shadab -- Easy tips for improving English at shadablucknow.blogspot.com My contributions to the press http://shadablucknow.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-contributions-to-press.html#links Shadab Husain interviews Danny Bloom shdb101.blogspot.com Many posts on one page http://shadablucknow.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00max-results=30 Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with disability bill at: http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
[AI] 'Right to education will remain a dream'
'Right to education will remain a dream' Mayura Janwalkar / DNA Mumbai: The Union government has made the right to education a fundamental right; but almost 70 million print-disabled people will find it difficult to access textbooks and other study material if the government amends the Copyright Act, 1957. The amended act will make it mandatory to have licences to reproduce copyrighted work in any format - even it is meant for the use of persons suffering from visual, aural, or other disability. The amended proposal may be introduced in Parliament in the current budget session, Dr Sam Taraporevala, director of the Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC), said at a press conference on Thursday. He said the government should reconsider changing the act. There are a few proposed amendments, Kanchan Pamnani, visually impaired advocate and solicitor, said. But this will make our life more difficult. Citing her experience while she was studying law, Pamnani said a plethora of reference books had to be unbound and scanned for her to study. It was a back-breaking job because such books ran into thousands of pages. If the act is changed, an organisation working for the disabled will have to apply for a licence from the copyright board before reproducing any copyrighted text. The process of accessing available material will become more tedious, she said. If somebody in Kolkata has already scanned the reference material why should I have to do it again here? Print disability, apart from the blind, applies to those suffering from dyslexia and cerebral palsy. When I was doing my MBA, I spent most of my time searching for reference material that could be accessed in a format I could read, Ketan Kothari of Sightsavers International said. Braille is cumbersome and expensive. Now, there are formats that can convert text to audio. Of the 70 million disabled people in the country, 20 million were children, Eliabeth Kurian, regional director of Sightsavers International, said. Their right to education will not be a reality if the act is changed. Source:http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_right-to-education-will-rem ain-a-dream_1371926 Information transmitted by this e-mail is proprietary to MphasiS, its associated companies and/ or its customers and is intended for use only by the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient or it appears that this mail has been forwarded to you without proper authority, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this information in any manner is strictly prohibited. In such cases, please notify us immediately at mailmas...@mphasis.com and delete this mail from your records. To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
Re: [AI] Right to Education Act and Children with Disabilities
by excluding the people with disabilities from the right to education is the example of foolishness of our government. In fact, disabled do not matter for them. Perhaps, terrorist do as tell can do harm. - Original Message - From: SC Vashishth subhashvashis...@gmail.com To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in; community-mental-heal...@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:48 PM Subject: [AI] Right to Education Act and Children with Disabilities Dear Friends, Now the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India has indicated that what best they can do to include Children with Disabilities in the RTE Act 2009 is by including them under the Definition of Disadvantaged Children. And that is their bit. Any thing further is not their cup of tea and Ministry of Social Justice should do something to amend the Persons with disabilities Act. There can not be any thing worse than this. The fact is that the children with disabilities are no one's babies when it comes to inclusion and equal rights. Isn't it simple that Ministry of HRD being the nodal ministry for Education should also deal with education of children with disability? I fail to understand as to how education of children with disabilities becomes a welfare issue? This needs to stop right now and the RTE bill needs to be amended conclusively to provide for all support, special educators, therapists, reasonable accommodation and inclusive schools based on universal design. Nothing less than that is going to be acceptable to us! There is good news that Delhi Government is changing the Recruitment Rules of the Teachers to include Recruitment Rules for Special Educators and related matters after the recent Delhi High Court judgement in Social Jurists PIL. However, the situation in other states is pathetic and grave. The Education for All सर्व शिक्षा अभियान has actually failed to cater to the needs of children with disabilities in an inclusive set up. It is impossible to include children in the mainstream without proper preparation of teachers, infrastructure and support systems. Also only appointment of two Special Educators per school in the National Capital Territory Region will not serve the larger needs and the states have to take proactive measures to address the issue. Till today, there is no talk of developmental therapists, speech therapists, mobility trainers and other rehabilitation professional being included as a part of mainstream schools which are otherwise a necessary part of Special schools run by NGOs. The First Country Report on action taken by Indian Government on UNCRPD is due in May 2010. The Union Government has sought reports from States as what actions they have taken in these areas and I received a frantic call from one leading State NGO from one of the states asking that the State Welfare department is asking about UNCRPD and what is that Government is required to do in light of this. I was taken aback but this is sadly the truth! Many departments in state governments are not even aware or have taken no pains to even open the convention document that Union Government might have sent to them. In such situation, there is an urgent and calling need for the NGOs and the DPOs to act as monitors and get the systems working. On its own, nothing would happen and we need to show the road to the implementing agencies and the Governments. Its our cause and we can't wait for it to happen on its own, at the whims and fancies of State. The Persons with Disabilities Act is a live testimony to this which has not been fully implemented even after nearly one and a half decade of its being passed by the Parliament of India. I see a new role for the NGOs - that of Facilitators of Change and Advocacy Organisations and Resource Centres to guide the Government rather than merely restricting themselves to the role of a Service Provider. Its when you get engaged in Providing Service, you have no time or energy left to act as Resource Centre or advocacy organisation and also you keep chasing the grant applications to the Government to run the schools and other services. And that is what precisely the Government want you to remain engaged in! We have to understand that education of children with disability is a fundamental right of the children which the Government is bound to provide for in terms of systems, infrastructure and finance. Thus there is no point in NGOs seeking grants which are often very subjective and do not cover even the 50% of the expenses if rightfully done. I had taken up few cases for NGOs where the workers of the NGOs went against their employers in the Labour Courts seeking minimum wages and what I learnt from NGOs was that the grant that comes for a helper is merely 2000 Rupees which is far less than the minimum wage of an unskilled worker in Delhi. The matters are pending in High Court where Grant making Ministries have been impleaded as necessary parties for proper adjudication
[AI] Right to Education Act and Children with Disabilities
Dear Friends, Now the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India has indicated that what best they can do to include Children with Disabilities in the RTE Act 2009 is by including them under the Definition of Disadvantaged Children. And that is their bit. Any thing further is not their cup of tea and Ministry of Social Justice should do something to amend the Persons with disabilities Act. There can not be any thing worse than this. The fact is that the children with disabilities are no one's babies when it comes to inclusion and equal rights. Isn't it simple that Ministry of HRD being the nodal ministry for Education should also deal with education of children with disability? I fail to understand as to how education of children with disabilities becomes a welfare issue? This needs to stop right now and the RTE bill needs to be amended conclusively to provide for all support, special educators, therapists, reasonable accommodation and inclusive schools based on universal design. Nothing less than that is going to be acceptable to us! There is good news that Delhi Government is changing the Recruitment Rules of the Teachers to include Recruitment Rules for Special Educators and related matters after the recent Delhi High Court judgement in Social Jurists PIL. However, the situation in other states is pathetic and grave. The Education for All सर्व शिक्षा अभियान has actually failed to cater to the needs of children with disabilities in an inclusive set up. It is impossible to include children in the mainstream without proper preparation of teachers, infrastructure and support systems. Also only appointment of two Special Educators per school in the National Capital Territory Region will not serve the larger needs and the states have to take proactive measures to address the issue. Till today, there is no talk of developmental therapists, speech therapists, mobility trainers and other rehabilitation professional being included as a part of mainstream schools which are otherwise a necessary part of Special schools run by NGOs. The First Country Report on action taken by Indian Government on UNCRPD is due in May 2010. The Union Government has sought reports from States as what actions they have taken in these areas and I received a frantic call from one leading State NGO from one of the states asking that the State Welfare department is asking about UNCRPD and what is that Government is required to do in light of this. I was taken aback but this is sadly the truth! Many departments in state governments are not even aware or have taken no pains to even open the convention document that Union Government might have sent to them. In such situation, there is an urgent and calling need for the NGOs and the DPOs to act as monitors and get the systems working. On its own, nothing would happen and we need to show the road to the implementing agencies and the Governments. Its our cause and we can't wait for it to happen on its own, at the whims and fancies of State. The Persons with Disabilities Act is a live testimony to this which has not been fully implemented even after nearly one and a half decade of its being passed by the Parliament of India. I see a new role for the NGOs - that of Facilitators of Change and Advocacy Organisations and Resource Centres to guide the Government rather than merely restricting themselves to the role of a Service Provider. Its when you get engaged in Providing Service, you have no time or energy left to act as Resource Centre or advocacy organisation and also you keep chasing the grant applications to the Government to run the schools and other services. And that is what precisely the Government want you to remain engaged in! We have to understand that education of children with disability is a fundamental right of the children which the Government is bound to provide for in terms of systems, infrastructure and finance. Thus there is no point in NGOs seeking grants which are often very subjective and do not cover even the 50% of the expenses if rightfully done. I had taken up few cases for NGOs where the workers of the NGOs went against their employers in the Labour Courts seeking minimum wages and what I learnt from NGOs was that the grant that comes for a helper is merely 2000 Rupees which is far less than the minimum wage of an unskilled worker in Delhi. The matters are pending in High Court where Grant making Ministries have been impleaded as necessary parties for proper adjudication of the case! And I am well aware what is going to be the outcome of such petition! Therefore it is the right time for NGOs to reduce their role as Service Provider and gradually move towards their new and calling role as Resource Centres, Research bodies and be a part of Advocacy and Monitoring mechanism to ensure that the rights of persons with disability to live with dignity in society on an equal basis with others are realised to its full and rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of
